review

The Vivitar Series 1 90 mm f/2.5 VMC Macro is a well known macro lens produced by Tokina (Serial 37xxxxxx) under the Vivitar brand. The lens allows for a magnification of 1:2 by itself and reaches 1:1 when combined with […]

The MD 85 mm f/2 without “Rokkor” designation was Minolta’s last manual focus 85 mm. As the successor of a line of MC 85 mm f/1.7 lenses, the MD is significantly lighter and more compact. Although the optical scheme with […]

The MD 50 mm f/1.4 with 49 mm filter thread from the early 80s is the last f/1.4 standard lens introduced in the Minolta manual focus line-up. The lens is less common than it’s slightly slower MD 50 mm f/1.7 […]

The MD W.Rokkor 24 mm f/2.8 is a high resolution, fast wide angle lens from the late 70’s. It features the same design as the earlier MC-X version: 9 lenses in 7 groups. Due to its superior optical performance, this […]

The MC Rokkor-PG 58 mm f/1.2 was Minolta’s top-of-the line normal lens from the late 60’s until the introduction of the MD 50 mm f/1.2 in 1978. It features 7 lenses in 5 groups and can be regarded as the […]

The MC 200 mm f/4.5 is a skinny medium tele from the early seventies. The lens is the smaller cousin of the MD 200 mm f/4 and was mainly offered as a lower-priced alternative. The 200 mm f/4.5 is solidly […]

The Minolta MD 24-35 mm f/3.5 is smaller and less expensive alternative to the often praised MD Zoom 24-50 mm f/4. It’s missing some focal length on the long end, but is half a stop faster in return. Combined with […]

The MD 50 mm f/2 with 49 mm filter thread is the slowest non-macro standard prime produced by Minolta. The lens is less common than it’s slightly faster f/1.7 counterpart which served as a kit lens in the Minolta SR […]

The Sony SEL35F18 is a 35 mm f/1.8 normal lens equivalent for APS-C E mount cameras, released in December 2012. Compared to it’s Zeiss-branded sibling, the Touit 32 mm f/1.8, it offers a minimally narrower field of view and image […]

The Tamron 135 mm f/2.5 Close Focus is a medium telephoto lens from the late seventies, belonging to Tamron’s versatile Adaptall-2 line. It’s optical design with four lenses in four groups is similar to Minolta’s legendary MD-I 135 mm f/2.8. […]

The MD W.Rokkor 35 mm f/1.8 is a fast wide angle from the late seventies and the successor of Minolta’s first fast thirty-five, the MC W.Rokkor-HH 35 mm f/1.8. The MD has the same optical formula with 8 lens elements […]

The Vivitar Series 1 200 mm f/3.0 Auto Telephoto is a third party prime from the early 70s produced by Komine (Serial 28xxxxxx) under the Vivitar brand. It belongs to Vivitar’s legendary “Series 1” of – for the time – […]

The MD-II Tele Rokkor 135 mm f/2.8 with 5 lens elements in 5 groups is the successor of Minolta’s legendary MD-I 135 mm f/2.8 with 4/4 design. Although the MD-II offers seemingly more advanced optics, it is often said to […]

The MD W.Rokkor-X 35 mm f/2.8 with 5 lens elements in 5 groups is a pretty regular Minolta wide angle from the late 70’s. It is the successor of the MC versions with more complex designs (7/6) and the “slower […]

The Lens Turbo II is a focal reducer available for E mount, Micro FourThirds and Fuji X cameras, produced by the Chinese company Zhongyi. It was originally ‘inspired’ by the Metabones Speedbooster and reduces the focal length of any attached […]

The Vivitar Series 1 28-90 mm f/2.8-3.5 Macro Focusing Zoom is a third party zoom produced by Komine (Serial 28xxxxxx) under the Vivitar brand for different camera mounts. It belongs to Vivitar’s legendary “Series 1” of – for the time […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 35-70 mm f/3.5 Macro is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the last one, which is the only version […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 70-210 mm f/4 is the successor of the well known 75-200 mm f/4.5 and Minolta’s last tele zoom in this range developed for the SR mount. It is also the most common on the used market […]

The Vivitar (Komine) Series 1 70-210 mm f/2.8-4.0 is an often entitled “legendary” third party zoom produced for different mounts. There are at least five known versions from different manufacturers all sold under the Vivitar brand. This is the third […]

The MC Rokkor-PF 58 mm f/1.4 is the faster equivalent to Minoltas 55 mm f/1.8 and f/1.7 standard primes from the 60’s. It has been produced in four versions from which this one (MC-II) is believed to be the best. […]

The MD 2x Tele Converter 300-S is a pretty common Minolta tele converter for lenses with focal lengths of up to 300 mm. It is the shorter cousin of the 2x Tele Converter 300-L which is also known as 2x Converter […]

The Sigma 19 mm f/2.8 EX DN E is a third party, wide angle prime for APS-C E mount cameras. It is Sigma’s counterpart to the Sony SEL20F28 pancake and often said to actually be the superior lens of the two. […]

The Sony SEL50F18 is a 50 mm f/1.8 normal lens for APS-C E mount cameras, where it acts as a shot tele. It was one of the first primes in Sony’s E mount line-up, released in late 2011. The SEL50F18 is […]

The MC Macro Rokkor 50 mm f/3.5 is a well respected macro lens produced by Minolta in MC and MD mount with identical optical formula for more than 20 years. The maximum reproduction ratio is 1:2 with the lens as […]

The MC W.Rokkor-HG 35 mm f/2.8 with 7 lens elements in 6 groups is a standard Minolta wide angle lens from the 60’s. There are MC non-X versions of this lens with full metal body and identical optics and there are […]

The MD Varisoft Rokkor 85 mm f/2.8 is a rare specialized lens which was designed as a portraiture-friendly companion of the extremely sharp MD 85 mm f/2.0. The Varisoft features eight aperture blades and a three-stage mechanism which introduces spherical aberrations […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 35-70 mm f/3.5 is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the second one. The first version features different optics […]

The Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70 mm f/3.5 is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the first one. The second and third version […]

The SELP1650 16-50 mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS power zoom is Sony’s kit lens for most NEX cameras. It more or less replaced the SEL1855 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS, which is larger and offers less wide angle on the short end. The […]

The Vivitar (Tokina) Series 1 70-210 mm f/3.5 is an often entitled “legendary” third party zoom produced for different mounts. There are at least five known versions from different manufacturers all sold under the Vivitar brand. This is the second […]

The Vivitar (Kiron) Series 1 70-210 mm f/3.5 is an often entitled “legendary” third party zoom produced for different mounts. There are at least five known versions from different manufacturers all sold under the Vivitar brand. This is the first […]

The MD 28 mm f/2.8 with 7 lens elements is generally considered to be one of Minolta’s best 28 mm, very close to the excellent MC W.Rokkor-SI 28 mm f/2.5 and the MD 28 mm f/2. This “plain MD” f/2.8 without […]

The MD Tele Rokkor 135 mm f/2.8 in the MD-I version with four lens elements (4/4) is one of the most famous Minolta tele lenses. It uses a simpler optical formula than it’s MC predecessors, but performs considerably better. The […]

The MC W.Rokkor-HH 35 mm f/1.8 was Minoltas first “ultra fast” medium wide angle lens. It was later succeeded by the MD W.Rokkor 35 mm f/1.8, which performs a little worse but is much lighter and more compact. The W.Rokkor-HH features […]

The Kiron 28 mm f/2.0 is a very fast wide angle lens produced for different mounts by Kino Precision under their own brand Kiron. A lens with identical specs was also manufactured by Kino Precision for Vivitar. The lens feels […]

The MD Rokkor 50 mm f/1.2 is the successor of the legendary MC Rokkor-PG 58 mm f/1.2, a.k.a. the “bokeh king”. It uses a different optical design, is smaller and lighter. The change from MC to MD in this case […]

The MD Rokkor 50 mm f/1.4 with 55 mm filter thread is the direct successor of the MC Rokkor-PG 50 mm f/1.4. It uses a new optical formula, is smaller and has very different image characteristics. It is generally considered […]

The Vivitar 24 mm f/2.0 is a very fast wide angle lens produced for different mounts. My copy was manufactured by Kiron (a brand of Kino Precision) and there is at least one other version of the 24 mm that […]

The RF Rokkor 250 mm f/5.6 is one of the most sought after lenses in the Minolta SR system. Though it was produced in not-so-small quantities, used prices for this lens today are through the roof. This is often attributed […]

The MC Rokkor-PG 50 mm f/1.4 is the successor of the MC Rokkor-PF 58 mm f/1.4. The 50 mm is often said to be Minoltas sharpest standard prime in the SR system, although some insist that the MC Rokkor-PG 58 […]